Sofia Hernandez, TikTok’s global head of marketing and commercial partnerships, is leaving the company, according to a memo from global business solutions lead Will Liu.
Hernandez worked at TikTok and ByteDance for nearly six years. She initially focused on marketing related to the company’s advertising business before expanding her remit to include consumer marketing. Prior to joining TikTok, Hernandez served as chief customer officer at the consumer-insights platform Suzy. Before that, she worked at a creative agency within Publicis Groupe.
Hernandez confirmed her exit in a Thursday morning LinkedIn post, saying that she was leaving the company to take a break.
“Choosing to rest is not stepping out of the game,” she wrote. “It takes clarity and confidence to step back long enough to recharge your body, reset your thinking, and expand your vision.”
Hernandez is being replaced by Isobel Sita-Lumsden, an exec in the UK who has focused on off-platform marketing partnerships and social, according to the memo.
“Sofia played a defining role in shaping our global go to market approach,” Liu wrote in his memo. “This included expanding our presence across priority markets, and strengthening how brand, product and commercial teams work together.”
Hernandez is the latest in a string of US executives to leave TikTok in the past year. About a year ago, advertising executive Blake Chandlee, who previously oversaw global business solutions, stepped down. In January, Kim Farrell, TikTok’s global head of creators, left the company amid a reorganization of the company’s content division. Kate Jhaveri, TikTok’s previous marketing head, left the company in late 2024.
Hernandez’s exit comes at a moment of transition for TikTok, which recently split off parts of its US business into a joint venture. While some employees now work for a new US division overseen by managing investors like Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, advertising and marketing workers remain under the oversight of ByteDance.
TikTok is projected to pull in around $18 billion in US ad revenue this year, according to an estimate from EMARKETER, Business Insider’s sister company.
TikTok and ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.